If A’Nuo had told Sheng Yuan-yao about the storybooks he had read, this tragedy most likely wouldn’t have happened.

Unfortunately, A’Nuo did not.

Sheng Yuan-yao’s clothes were half stripped, her body trembling, fair, and soft. Seeing Pei Chu-yun, who had abruptly “caught them in the act,” her mind went blank. “You, weren’t you at the night banquet…?”

Pei Chu-yun sneered, “If I weren’t at the night banquet, how would I catch a dog? Oh, quite fair, aren’t you?”

Sheng Yuan-yao was both ashamed and angry, quickly covering her chest. “You’re setting a trap!”

“How is this setting a trap? Whether I’m at the night banquet or squatting at home, is that a reason for you to come be a puppy?”

“No!” Sheng Yuan-yao, who was from the Demon Suppression Division after all, suddenly had a flash of insight. “You weren’t setting a trap to catch me at all; you wanted to sneak in for an affair yourself, but you arrived a step late and stumbled upon us, so you’re pretending to be catching us in the act!”

“What the heck?” Pei Chu-yun was caught off guard, her secret suddenly exposed. She was greatly shocked. How did this “A’Gua” suddenly become not “A’Gua”?

Of course, she absolutely refused to admit it. “Don’t try to bite back! Tell me, caught in the act, what are you going to do now? Make a dog sound for me to hear?”

Sheng Yuan-yao didn’t know what to do. Was she really going to bark like a dog?

Just as she was about to say, “Husband, say something,” her husband had already spoken first. “Well, I’ve set up many formations in my house, and it’s unlikely I wouldn’t know if someone broke in… Don’t tell me you used your teleportation secret technique for this, did you…?”

Pei Chu-yun’s eyes darted around. “Yes, so what if I did?”

She had intended to have a clandestine affair, but she noticed something was off outside and decided to switch to catching them in the act. The little demoness, who had failed three times to hunt the wheelchair-bound man and was instead caught herself, knew how cautious Lu Xing-zhou was. Rushing in to catch them would surely be discovered, so she directly teleported.

Lu Xing-zhou was furious. “That secret technique of yours has such a long cooldown; it’s for saving your life! And you used it for something so trivial.”

Pei Chu-yun said, “So what? I haven’t been in any danger in Jing-shi for so long.”

“Are you sure you haven’t been in any danger?” Lu Xing-zhou said angrily, “I was worried about your safety back then and specifically sent a message. You said you had it under control, and this is how you have it under control?”

Pei Chu-yun, whose righteous indignation turned into guilt, took half a step back. “Forget it, I’m not talking to you. Anyway, this A’Gua will be barking for me tomorrow.”

Having said that, she turned to escape through the window.

As soon as she turned around, her acupuncture points on her back were pricked.

Pei Chu-yun: “?”

“Since you’ve come, why are you in such a hurry to leave?” Lu Xing-zhou hugged her back and placed her on the bed.

Pei Chu-yun: “??”

Sheng Yuan-yao, holding her trembling self, hadn’t even reacted before the man stripped Pei Chu-yun, making her tremble as well.

Now, both of them were in the same state.

Sheng Yuan-yao’s sense of shame suddenly vanished, and she felt much more relaxed. Instead, she found Pei Chu-yun’s indignant expression increasingly amusing.

It seemed right; as long as she was dragged into this, there would be no need to bark like a dog tomorrow…

Just as she was thinking this, Pei Chu-yun’s expression had already changed from indignation to a hazy daze. The man’s skillful assault made her unable to resist, and before long, she began to pant softly, murmuring, “Undo my acupuncture points…”

Doing this with another woman was actually harder for Sheng Yuan-yao to accept than for Pei Chu-yun. A demoness of joy wouldn’t care about such things. As soon as Lu Xing-zhou released her acupuncture points, Pei Chu-yun’s fair arms wrapped around him, hugging the man and kissing him with loud smacks.

Sheng Yuan-yao, left aside, was a bit dumbfounded.

Who am I? Where am I? How did this turn into a magpie taking over a dove’s nest, and you’re enjoying yourself?

Just as a hint of jealousy arose, Lu Xing-zhou hugged her again.

Sheng Yuan-yao was in a daze, unsure of what she was thinking this time. Should she be happy that Lu Xing-zhou still chose her first, or should she feel a bit ashamed? Her mind was hazy as she succumbed to his strength and fell beside Pei Chu-yun.

Pei Chu-yun leaned on her hand, watching, and also found it quite amusing.

This Sheng Yuan-yao, always acting like a valiant young boy, turned out to be so seductive when aroused.

Look at that still-confused and bewildered expression, yet unconsciously beginning to moan—quite provocative.

Hmm, she has a really good figure, she even has an ‘ab-line’, a coarse martial artist.

“No, no…” Sheng Yuan-yao suddenly realized why. “She’s watching…”

Lu Xing-zhou embraced Pei Chu-yun and kissed her. “Don’t worry, I’ll cover her now…”

Pei Chu-yun: “…”

Sheng Yuan-yao: “…”

It wasn’t until the two of them were piled together that the stern faces of their two fathers flashed through their minds.

They were truly prescient.

On this major festival, while Lu Xing-zhou was enjoying his first “stacked pleasure,” the eldest son of the Huo family, Huo Qi, was drowning his sorrows in wine.

Originally, his position as crown prince was not merely a foregone conclusion but a settled fact. None of his younger brothers, including the second son Huo Zhang, posed any competition whatsoever.

To contend for the crown prince position, he would have had to commit a grave mistake and be deposed, and even then, Huo Zhang, no matter how outstanding, wouldn’t have stood a chance. Not to mention Huo Zhang wasn’t particularly outstanding to begin with.

But ever since Lu Xing-zhou’s status grew day by day, the situation changed.

The emperor had indeed considered Lu Xing-zhou’s overwhelming advantage and directly granted him a title, allowing him to establish his own ancestral hall, thereby eliminating his contention for the crown prince position, which seemed secure. However, it was unexpected that Lu Xing-zhou was someone who, given an inch, would take a mile. Now, his standing in his father’s heart was growing increasingly significant.

Even if his father knew that it was futile to make Lu Xing-zhou return to the family, he would at least expect reconciliation between Lu Xing-zhou and their next generation.

And for Huo Qi, reconciliation was impossible.

Because Huo Shang had died by his hand.

Although at the time it was merely “teaching that clueless fellow a lesson,” who knew he would be so fragile and just die like that…

Oh, no, he didn’t die; now he’s come back for revenge.

Now, Huo Qi’s biggest regret was that he had simply thrown Huo Shang’s body into the mountains at the time, instead of reducing it to ashes, otherwise, today’s troubles wouldn’t exist.

The current situation was that as long as Huo Qi remained the crown prince, there was absolutely no possibility of reconciliation between Lu Xing-zhou and the Huo family, regardless of generation. However, Huo Zhang and Lu Xing-zhou had a good relationship; they had secretly plotted various things together in the past, and later, they went to Bei-jiang for aid together, successfully helping Huo Zhang support their father, which greatly increased his standing in their father’s heart.

When Lu Xing-zhou became the Director of the Principal Guest Office, he explicitly stated that only if Huo Zhang was in charge, could the Huo family bypass the embargo list.

What their father was thinking was unknown, but Huo Qi’s heart had already chilled by half.

According to this trend, replacing the crown prince was really not impossible.

The fight at the family banquet today was deliberately provoked by Huo Qi, with the aim of observing his father’s reaction.

The reaction, however, greatly disappointed Huo Qi. His father merely blamed both sides equally and didn’t even send Huo Zhang to Bei-jiang.

Nominally, it was said that Huo Zhang still had a lot of unfinished work here and was urged to finish it quickly… But was this really an issue? The Huo family had accumulated substantial capital over the years, with resources and connections everywhere. They didn’t necessarily need the Bei-jiang business; temporarily giving up that sector wouldn’t be a big deal.

The unwillingness to give up was probably not just about the profit, but more importantly, about not wanting to sever ties with Lu Xing-zhou.

This trend was extremely unsettling; it was likely that his father harbored some unconscious thoughts of replacing the crown prince.

Yet, Huo Qi had no solution to this situation.

His essential opponent wasn’t Huo Zhang or his father; it was Lu Xing-zhou… If he couldn’t suppress Lu Xing-zhou’s influence, then nothing else mattered.

But how could one suppress Lu Xing-zhou’s influence? Not even the current emperor could suppress him at will. The current Lu Xing-zhou was directly associated with the Imperial Advisor and the Pei-Sheng families, shining brilliantly, and even the emperor would have many concerns if he wanted to act against him. What did Huo Qi have to compete with such a person?

“Why is the eldest young master drinking alone here?”

Huo Qi, with somewhat blurry, drunken eyes, turned to see Yang De-chang, an elder of the Huo family, carrying a bottle of wine and a plate of peanuts, sitting beside him. He said with a chuckle, “Winter Solstice with heavy snow, drinking alone is boring. Do you need this old man to keep you company for a few drinks?”

Yang De-chang had risen from a martial arts instructor in the guardhouse to an enshrined elder, practically watching every young master grow up. Although Huo Qi considered him merely a subordinate and didn’t hold much respect for him, he also wasn’t wary.

Seeing Yang De-chang come to drink with him, Huo Qi sighed. “Uncle Yang is truly loyal, unlike some people, who, damn it, act as if I, Huo Qi, have lost favor… Look at those snobbish eyes.”

Yang De-chang had a belly full of unspoken complaints. What “others are snobbish”? It was clearly you who looked perpetually grim and ready to kill; who in their right mind would approach you? If this old man weren’t burdened with the seventh young master’s important task, he wouldn’t have approached at this time…

On his face, however, he smiled and said, “Currying favor and clinging to power is human nature. The second young master has great influence now…”

Huo Qi nearly crushed his wine cup. “You also think the second brother has great influence? What great influence? He’s not even in charge of a mere Bei-jiang trade; his authority is less than when he was a general!”

“But the second young master’s military post has been reinstated, it’s just that there isn’t a good position for him yet… I heard that the Marquis is preparing to advise His Majesty that nothing is more important in Bei-jiang than the border markets. Once the second young master accumulates experience in this area, he will strongly recommend him to replace Xiang An.”

Xiang An, the current commanding general of Ju-yao Pass.

If Huo Zhang took this position, his official rank would be higher than Huo Qi’s.

Then who would be the crown prince?

Huo Qi’s drunken eyes showed streaks of red as he stared intently at Yang De-chang. “Did Uncle Yang specifically come to say this to mock me?”

Yang De-chang sighed softly. “I just feel it’s unfair for the crown prince… The crown prince has been diligent for so many years and hasn’t made any mistakes…”

These words truly resonated with Huo Qi. He gritted his teeth and said, “I see it clearly now: everyone only cares about profit; where is there any genuine affection?”

Yang De-chang sighed with a look of regret, merely offering a toast.

Huo Qi drank another cup, then, tipsy, said, “But Uncle Yang, what can I do? I can’t defeat Lu Xing-zhou…”

Yang De-chang was stunned. “Why do you have to fight Lu Xing-zhou?”

Huo Qi said, “Essentially, it’s his influence that’s affecting things, isn’t it?”

Yang De-chang’s expression was strange. “Lu Xing-zhou is unwilling to return to the family; no matter what, he’s still an outsider. The person truly competing with you is the second young master… As long as the second young master cannot compete, then even if Lu Xing-zhou has immense influence, he can’t personally step in to contend, can he?”

Huo Qi was momentarily stunned, his eyes flickering between clarity and confusion.